Food Waste: Should we return to using chalkboards again?
Everyone is aware of the statistics. If it were a nation, food waste would rank third in terms of emissions; in the US, 30–40% of food is wasted, and so on. Kerry does not wish to impart that lesson to you, or to any consumers for that matter. During their case study at Food Ingredients Europe 2022 in the magnificent (if enormous) Porte de Versailles in Paris, Dr. Sabina Cairoli, the business development manager, and Emma Cahill, the global marketing director, discussed how Kerry has reduced food waste by using creative solutions. More importantly, they clarified why the beginning and end of food waste reduction are consumer education initiatives.
You can achieve great things with technology.
Certain food waste is obvious, such as when a family member throws away uneaten vegetables from a dinner plate (this is not based on the writer’s own experiences at all). Others, though, are concealed by intricate supply systems and industrial walls.
Cahill brought up a difficult problem that probably everyone has encountered at some point in the supply chain, which may be the most illustrative example of reducing food waste farther up the chain. When baking, dough always sticks to the bowl, board, or other utensils no matter how hard you try or how much flour you throw on it. When implemented on a huge scale in a commercial bakery, that small irritation in your home kitchen might turn into a significant waste. Cahill clarified that dough may now be made that is less sticky by employing an enzyme.
Another example, this one involving drinks, involved cutting the amount of time spent on tunnel pasteurization procedures by half by utilizing a natural component. If you excuse the pun, shorter production runs result in fewer bottlenecks, which reduce food waste and extend shelf life.
But just lately
The aforementioned case studies provide excellent examples of how the industry may collaborate to cut waste before food ever reaches consumers. It’s important to acknowledge the value of this job, as it’s the consumer that presents the biggest challenges.
In general, consumers want to see less food waste. As Cahill confirmed, most of the people Kerry polled wanted to take every precaution to reduce the quantity of food that ended up in the trash. Cahill noted, “They feel shame,” a sentiment that many can identify with when compelled to throw away uneaten food.
So what exactly is the issue? Customers want change, and since we have the technology to offer it, shouldn’t we just go ahead and play? As usual, however, things are not so cut and dry.
Of course, shelf life has a significant impact on food waste. It establishes when customers purchase food and when they discard it. Recently, tremendous progress has been achieved in extending the shelf life of food, but as Cairoli clarified, there is a limit to this advancement and it rests with the consumer. A product’s shelf life is still 10 days if, for instance, we could guarantee that it was free of Listeria for 15 days, but after that time the food started to lose its color, texture, or overall appearance, making it unfit for eating. Whichever is lower, presentation or microbial resistance determines the shelf life. In the end, it makes no difference how secure a package of ground beef is whether it has begun to become brown or grey.
The more we tell customers to trust their senses, the more crucial this becomes. Rightly or unjustly, there has been a shift away from “best before” dates on some items, and it appears that this tendency will continue and affect more foods rather than fewer.
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Without further education, all the improvements made to extend shelf life will be rendered obsolete if consumers react as the business anticipates and expects they will. This is because the improvements are unseen. Because of advances in technology, it is possible that ground beef that is starting to turn brown can safely be consumed for a few more days. However, decision-makers will still be influenced by long-standing beliefs about what constitutes safe food in terms of appearance, flavor, and aroma. The bulk of food education, according to Cahill, is given by caregivers (mothers, fathers, grandparents, etc.), who may be imparting out-of-date information.
Long-held beliefs about what is and is not healthy are another problem. It’s possible that many customers, including this one, are a little wary about bread that is still edible after two weeks. This might apply to any commodity, including shellfish and ground beef.
Changing the way that consumers think
All of the aforementioned has shown is that, having developed over many years and passed down from generation to generation, consumers have deeply ingrained beliefs about what makes food safe. The knowledge that is presently out of date will be what prevents us from extending the shelf lives of food and beverages as technology advances. That information might sometimes come from experience, either your own or someone else’s; for example, I once ate ham that smelled like this and became ill.
The food business will need to retrain customers to keep up with the rapid advancements in technology. The food and beverage business should always prioritize consumer safety because there is a thin line between decreasing food waste and enticing consumers to eat potentially harmful products (as it usually does). However, as we discover new methods for extending the shelf life of food, we need to see a return on investment in global pantry and refrigerator systems. This could entail better labeling techniques or possibly public awareness efforts.
In any case, it must take place quickly. The two Kerry delegates began their “presentation” by stating that, at the current rate of development, the resources needed to feed the 10 billion people who are predicted to inhabit Earth by 2050 would fill three planets. “The time is now and the opportunity is ours,” as Cahill once stated.